Riddick's Death
by Cassandra Houston
Summary: The story of Riddick's life after his death.
1. Chapter One: The Return of Richard B Ri...

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston  
  
Chapter One: The Return of Richard B. Riddick  
  
  
He'd found her again. She could hardly believe it when he'd grabbed her and dragged her into the dark breezeway between two buildings at her school.  
  
"Hello, Jack." He'd said. He was wearing dark goggles, as usual when the light was so bright.  
  
She'd frowned. "Riddick?" she said, completely disbelieving. She smiled, some of the kid in her coming out. She threw her arms around him and he tensed. She backed off and looked at him. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "You don't have to do that." She said as she watched him look around as a couple of kids jogged past their hiding place. "You're dead. You know that." They'd exchanged a few letters over the past several years. He'd gotten away before they landed. Iman had called and been given instructions how to land the shuttle.  
  
Jacqueline had gotten her first letter six months later, when her parents had dumped her at this school. For once she wasn't all that upset. Iman had been made headmaster of this school. Being the only two survivors, she was comfortable with him. And he'd delivered the first letter Riddick sent her.  
  
  
  
  
Jacqueline,  
  
To let you know I'm safe.  
  
R  
  
  
  
  
Iman's was exactly the same. Jacqueline had written Riddick back, even though she didn't know exactly how to send it. She told him about the story they'd fed the authorities. That no one was looking for him. She wished she could send it.  
  
And one night a tall man with blonde hair had grabbed her and dragged her into the very same breezeway she was in now. She was scared to death. "I was sent by Riddick." He'd said. He looked at her and asked. "Anyone not ready for this?" In the same way Riddick had said it to her on that planet. Almost a year ago. She knew that this man was safe. She spoke the words she'd spoken before. "Never had a doubt." He nodded as she relaxed. "He sent me to check on you and Iman."  
  
Jacqueline made the man wait while she went to get the reply she'd written months ago.  
  
Since then people hired by Riddick had snatched her several times into this breezeway. They continued a correspondence. About every month or so. For almost a year.  
  
And now he was here.  
  
"Maybe." He said. He looked at her. "You're growing up. Don't look so much like a boy anymore."  
  
Jacqueline flushed, remembering how she'd passed as a boy. Riddick grinned at her. He asked, "How old are you now?" His voice was as deep and unhurried as she remembered it. And it brought her comfort.  
  
"Seventeen." She said and watched him as he nodded. "What are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
"Just checking on you." He said. She wished she could see his eyes. "I'll be close, Jack."  
  
And he disappeared.  
  
The planet the school was on was very bright. The moons were only about half the brightness of the suns. The nights were like a cloudy day. She would walk at night into the woods surrounding the school and would always be found by Riddick near the caves west of the school. They'd spend hours talking and became very close.  
  
  
  
Calvin Andrews had been watching her. He'd asked her out on several dates and she'd refused. She didn't like him. He was just slimy as far as she was concerned. He got angrier and angrier with her the more she ignored him. And then he did it.  
  
When she was coming back from one of her midnight walks she was grabbed and dragged into the usual breezeway where she met Riddick's messenger. But she was not facing Riddick's messenger. She was facing Calvin Andrews.  
  
He grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. "You stuck up little bitch." he hissed, grabbing her chest roughly. "Who you meeting on these walks of yours?" He tried to force his tongue in her mouth and she bit it. He slapped her so hard she landed on the ground. He was on top of her in an instant. "Is he as good as I am?" He growled as he groped under her skirt.  
  
She was found the next morning and sent to the school's hospital. The told her she would recover, but that Calvin's beating had left her uterus ruptured. It would be removed that afternoon. She would never be able to have children. That night, as she lay, in pain from the surgery and the rape alone in her room she looked at the window. Through her tears she saw a face. Dark goggles, even in the bright gloom that was night at this place, hid the eyes.  
  
It was Riddick. He watched her for a moment, nodded, and then disappeared.  
  
Calvin Andrews was found in the same place Jacqueline was found. His penis was missing and his eyes had been gouged out. He never saw who attacked him and, no matter what, he never would.  
  
Iman stopped by to visit Jacqueline that afternoon. "Have you seen our friend lately?" He asked her quietly.  
  
Jacqueline looked at him evenly. "No. I haven't even gotten a note from him lately."  
  
The Iman man nodded slowly. "You are very special to him." He said. "If someone were to do something bad to you, he would want revenge for you."  
  
Jacqueline just looked at him, expressionlessly.  
  
"The attack on Calvin is very much like the way a lover would get revenge." Iman said quietly. "A very personal attack. Cutting off his," he broke the sentence off.  
  
Jacqueline had never considered that.  
  
Even though Calvin never spoke to her again, Jacqueline was still very traumatized by the rape and subsequent hysterectomy. It was three months before she could bring herself to take one of her long walks again. It was a special day for her. Her eighteenth birthday. She was considered by law to be adult now. Old enough to leave the school if she wanted to. Old enough to do anything she wanted to.  
  
She walked away from the school and into the forest surrounding it very late. The rest of the school was asleep. She walked deep into it, to a set of caves that went deep into the mountain the school was perched atop. She was deep in thought as she passed the line of caves. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard it.  
  
"Happy birthday, Jacqueline."  
  
She whirled to see Riddick as he stepped out of the shadows of the one of the caves. She sighed then smiled then ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. He tensed, but returned the embrace, slowly relaxing. She began to cry.  
  
"Shush, Jack." he crooned, pulling her slightly into the cave, still holding her. He stopped and caressed her hair. "It's your birthday. No tears."  
  
His voice vibrated against her body. She sniffed and looked up at him. "It was you, wasn't it?" she asked, still sniffing, her face wet with tears.  
  
Riddick shrugged. "He was a pig." he said. "I gutted him."  
  
Jacqueline nodded, "I knew it was you." she said. "Iman knew it too. He said it was a lover's revenge."  
  
She felt Riddick's arms tighten around her. "I'm not your lover, Jacqueline." He said, quietly.  
  
She looked up at him. He didn't often use her full name. "No, you're not." She said quietly. "You're just my guardian."  
  
He looked at her and she felt as one of his arms moved. He took his goggles off. His silvery eyes looked at her. "No one will fuck with you now." He said, slowly. "They don't know who, but they know you have a guardian. A fucking deadly one."  
  
He released her and backed into the cave. At only a few feet, she couldn't see him anymore.   
  
"Riddick!" She called after him.  
  
"You know where I am if you need me, Jacqueline." He called out of the darkness. "Or want me."  
  
When she got back to her dorm, she found a bunch of her favorite flowers waiting for her. 


	2. Chapter Two: The Hunt Begins

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
  
Chapter Two: The Hunt Begins  
  
Jacqueline closed the door behind her and walked further into the office. Two men stood in front of Iman's desk, their backs to Jacqueline.  
  
Iman spoke as Jacqueline approached. "Jacqueline." He said, stiffly. "These men are here to talk to you about the attack on Calvin Andrews."  
  
Both men turned to face Jacqueline and she gasped. She knew immediately who they were looking for. One of the men looked down at her. "I am David Johns." He nodded to the other man. "This is my brother, Peter."  
  
Peter Johns looked at her closely. "We are looking for the man who attacked Calvin Andrews."  
  
Jacqueline recovered her composure. She'd seen them arrive in their shuttle that morning. "The authorities never found out who did it." She said, evenly. "I don't know either." She locked eyes with Peter Johns. "And I don't really care."  
  
From behind Peter came his brother's voice. "It looks a lot like a killer our brother was tracking. Years ago. You knew our brother, didn't you?"  
  
Jacqueline nodded. "Yes. I knew him. He was with Riddick." She said.  
  
Peter nodded. Slowly. "Richard B. Riddick. Murderer. One of the only three survivors off of that planet."  
  
"He died in the shuttle." Iman said. "He had been injured. We jettisoned his body. We explained all of that when we were picked up. You are trying to tell me you are looking for a ghost?"  
  
David looked at Iman. "We don't believe that filthy murderer is dead." He said, evenly.  
  
"You think he attacked Calvin?" Jacqueline asked. Both brothers nodded. "But Calvin wasn't killed."  
  
"The attack was exceptionally brutal." David said. "So like Riddick's work." He looked Jacqueline up and down. "And this Calvin attacked someone Riddick might consider himself guardian of."  
  
Jacqueline smiled, and then laughed in the faces of the Johns brothers. "You think that Riddick was protecting me?" she scoffed. "First of all he was late, if that had been his plan. Second of all, Riddick was a cold son of a bitch. Selfish. He would have let us die on that planet, but we got to the shuttle before he could get away and leave us to those things."  
  
David and Peter exchanged looks. Peter began nodding again, slowly. "So you haven't seen him?"  
  
Jacqueline took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "The last time I saw Riddick was before we jettisoned his body into space. If you want to find him, look there."  
  
The brothers looked at Jacqueline and smiled. "We just might do that." Peter said. "After we finish searching this particular planet."  
  
The Johns brothers left the office.  
  
Jacqueline watched as the brothers began their search of the mountain the school was located on. Iman stood behind her. "Do you know where he is?" He asked.  
  
Jacqueline only nodded. "We have to get him off this planet."  
  
"No, they will see him leaving. We must hide him here, somehow." Iman said, thinking.  
  
Jacqueline bit her lip. "Can you make them think I have left the planet? Send them on a wild goose chase?"  
  
"I think I can manage that." Iman said, grinning slightly. "But if one stays," his voice trailed away.  
  
Jacqueline shrugged. "I won't worry about that right now." she said.  
  
  
  
Peter ran onto the pad just as the shuttle took off. He raced to a tall man, pulled him to face him. "Who was that? In the shuttle?" He demanded.  
  
In broken English the man replied. "Headmaster. He left suddenly with one of the students and a man." He opened his mouth to say more, but found he was alone. Peter Johns was racing to his shuttle. He took off immediately, leaving his brother behind, just in case they were being snowed.  
  
  
  
Jacqueline watched as David Johns went into the forest alone. She breathed a sigh of relief to see he was entering the forest on the wrong side of the school. She immediately took off for the caves, carrying her bag.  
  
She was careful not to be followed. She entered the cave and began slowly working her way down into its depths. She followed pitch-black paths for an hour, moving slowly. She was hopelessly lost and getting colder by the minute when she felt him behind her.  
  
"What's wrong, Jack." He said.  
  
She turned towards the sound of his voice but couldn't see him, it was so dark. "Johns had brothers." She said into the blackness. "They came here looking for you."  
  
Silence a moment. She suddenly felt his breath on her. "Did they follow you?' He asked. She felt his breath moving the hair on her forehead.  
  
"No. Iman took a shuttle. Peter Johns followed him. David Johns went into the forest on the other side of the school."  
  
More silence. "That Peter will come back when his brother finds you. Bring reinforcements if he can."  
  
"He won't find us." Jacqueline said. "I'm not leaving until I know it's safe."  
  
"The only other shuttle on the planet is the one taking the graduates off planet." Riddick said slowly. "It leaves in the morning. You should be on it."  
  
Jacqueline frowned. "I'm not leaving without you." She said, stubbornly. "Iman will be gone a long time, hopefully. He won't come back here for a while. We'll just live here, in the caves."  
  
The hair on her forehead flew up as Riddick laughed at her. "You aren't staying here with me. You can't."  
  
"I'm staying." She said. The tone of her voice made Riddick stop laughing. She still couldn't see a thing, however.  
  
There was silence for so long Jacqueline wondered if she'd been left standing on the path. Then she felt Riddick's hand on her arm, pulling gently. "This way." He said.  
  
They walked at a downward angle for about half an hour before Riddick said. "Home sweet home."  
  
Jacqueline could see nothing, still. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness only to find more underneath. Riddick put her hand against a wall. "Sit." He said.   
  
She sat and stared into the darkness. She heard a few things moving around. She had no idea what was happening. She felt something placed in her hands. Some plant? "Eat." Riddick said. "I need time to think."  
  
She didn't hear him walk away.  
  
  
  
She woke and wondered what time it was. What day it was. What year it was. She sat up and felt around like the blind woman she seemed to have become.  
  
"Good morning." Riddick's voice made her jump. She could only imagine the smile she thought might be on his face.  
  
Jacqueline took the food that was offered her and began eating. "I still don't want to leave you." She said, between mouthfuls.  
  
"I've figured that out." He said, quietly. "What I can't figure out is why." He said.  
  
Jacqueline didn't speak. She stared into the darkness as she finished her meager breakfast. She wiped her hands on her uniform skirt. She reached out for him and found him directly in front of her. She felt his bare chest and felt up until she came to his face. She cradled it in her hands. "I wanted to be with you." She said. "I don't care if I can't see you. As long as I am with you." She paused, adjusting herself so that she was on her knees. She knew she was looking into his face only because she was holding it and because of the very vague black on black outline his body made. "You said I would know where you were when I was ready."  
  
She felt his jaw work. "I said you knew where I lived if you needed me." He corrected.  
  
"Or wanted you." She reminded him. "How long have I been here?" She suddenly asked, not letting go.  
  
"Three days." He said.  
  
She sniffed and made a face. "Is there a place for me to take a bath?" She asked.  
  
She felt his jaw working under her hands again. He took her by the shoulders and as she stood, she somehow found his lips. He froze, but made no attempt to kiss her.  
  
He guided her to her feet and they walked. She was learning to listen and she heard their footsteps begin to echo.  
  
"Five feet in front of you is an underground lake." He said. "The water is hot, so be careful. Don't worry. Nothing in the water will hurt you." He pressed a small bag into her hand.  
  
And silence fell. She could not tell if he'd left her alone or not. She stood motionless for a moment. Then she felt the bag. It was actually a large piece of fabric. A towel, or a makeshift one. Wrapped in it was some soap and what Riddick would have called a "personal grooming appliance".   
  
She got barefoot and walked slowly forward towards the water. When her toes got wet she stopped and backed up a step. She knelt, put the towel and it's contents down beside her and undressed. She took the soap firmly in her hand and stood. She froze when she thought she heard a sound. A gasp? An intake of breath? Was Riddick watching her?  
  
She ignored the sound and went into the water carefully. At about knee depth she sat in the warm water and began to wash herself. She rinsed herself by lying back and bathed herself again. She also washed her hair twice. She rinsed it by swimming a few feet out and swimming back, feeling the ground beneath her with her hands. She jumped up when her hand felt a bare foot.  
  
Riddick caught her before she fell backwards. "I didn't mean to scare you." he said, slowly. He held her by the arms. She shook the water from her head and when he yelled she was pleased she'd gotten him wet.  
  
"Jacqueline." He said, low. He'd let her elbows go and stepped back when she shook her hair out. She raised her eyebrows at the use of her full name. "Why do you want to stay in these caves?" He asked, his voice quiet, even in the silence of the cavern.  
  
Jacqueline stared ahead. She considered her answer carefully and for a long time. When she spoke, she said. "Because you love me." He did not respond. She continued in a slow voice. "That's why you kept up the contact all this time, even though you were risking someone finding out you were alive. That's why you've been here the last eighteen months. That's why you did what you did to Calvin. Because you love me." She took a deep breath. "And I want to stay with you in these caves because I love you. Not a kid's crush. I got over that years ago. Real love."  
  
More silence greeted the end of her speech. She sighed again and backed away. She walked until she felt the water around her waist and began to bathe herself a third time. She felt the water move around her independent of her own movements.  
  
He took the soap from her and for a long moment she stood still as he bathed himself. She turned and reached out tentatively. A step forward brought her to his chest. She felt his hand close over hers. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it.  
  
Silently they bathed each other and rinsed each other until their soap was gone. Then Riddick guided her to the shore. He laid her on the towel and knelt before her. She was still blind. She couldn't see anything.  
  
She felt his lips on hers and she responded. She lay still as he shaved her completely. The little bloodsuckers were beginning to find her body and hide in her hair. She felt his hands as they explored her. She felt his breath when he broke the kiss.  
  
"I'm not," she began, almost crying. She felt his fingers on his lips.  
  
"I know." His voice rumbled. "That doesn't matter to me."  
  
Riddick very slowly, gently and carefully made love to Jacqueline in the warm cavern deep in the mountain. 


	3. Chapter Three: Seeing in the Dark

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
  
Chapter Three: Seeing in the Dark  
  
  
He sighed. "You can't live like this, Jacqueline." He said. "I know. It almost made me insane."  
  
Jacqueline said nothing. She knew he was right. "Not much can be done about it." She said, but she wondered aloud, "I wonder what's going on out there."  
  
Riddick's voice came out of the blackness. "They aren't back, but it's still dangerous. David is watching the school. He has reinforcements now. I saw him."  
  
Jacqueline frowned. "What?" She said.  
  
"I had to get some things." He said, dismissively. "But he's there for the duration, it looks like. Iman can let Peter chase him for a long time. Months. You can't stay in this darkness that long. Nine days is too long as it is."  
  
Jacqueline nodded. "What are you going to do?" She asked. "We aren't leaving, are we?"  
  
"No." Riddick said.  
  
Jacqueline nodded again, silently. She felt his hand wrap around hers. "Do you remember a long time ago when you asked me where you could get eyes like mine?"  
  
"Who do I have to kill?" She asked, smiling into the darkness.  
  
Riddick put a small bottle in her hand. "No one." He said. "But it's going to hurt. And it's irreversible."  
  
Jacqueline considered a moment and nodded. "Do it." She said.  
  
Riddick was silent. Jacqueline wondered if he was going to say any more when she felt something solid hit the back of her head.  
  
  
  
Her head was throbbing. Her neck was stiff and sore and her eyes felt like they were on fire. She opened them and the cave came into focus. It was like looking through a bad blizzard, but she could see. She saw a shape leaning on the far end of the small cavern. It could only be Riddick. She closed her eyes again and moaned.  
  
"Your awake." He said and when Jacqueline opened her eyes, she saw Riddick's shape before her.  
  
"My eyes are on fire." She said. "And my head is pounding."  
  
She saw him reach out to her. "The burning will stop in a few hours." He said, his voice compassionate. "So will the pain from knocking you out." He touched her face. She finally saw him lean in to kiss her. "It's no wedding ring, but."  
  
Jacqueline chuckled. "Well, if that's a proposal," she began.  
  
She saw him smile. "It's as close as it gets with me. You can't give me twenty menthol Kools."  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "Accepted." She said shortly and they kissed again. When they separated she looked around the cave. "So this is how you see in the dark. It'll take some getting used to."  
  
"We have time before we will be able to leave this cave." Riddick said.  
  
"Benjamin." Jacqueline said, using his middle name. He'd told it to her during their many talks. She'd been calling him by it ever since. She opened her mouth to speak again when the ground gently trembled.  
  
Riddick stiffened. "Stay here!" He commanded, in a no-nonsense voice. She was able to watch him bolt from their small cavern.  
  
Jacqueline tried to follow anyway, but the pain in her head was too great. She sat back and listened instead. The nine days blind in the cave seemed to sharpen her hearing as well as her other senses. She heard several noises that sounded like explosions. A light smell assailed her nostrils. She tensed and forced herself to relax against the pounding of her head and the burning of her eyes. The smell was making her dizzy. As things became dark around her, she knew she was passing out.  
  
  
  
Neither her head nor her eyes hurt by the time she woke. She saw Riddick sitting nearby. She sat up carefully, expecting possible pain, but none came.  
  
"Benjamin." She said. "What happened? I heard explosions. And thought I smelled explosives."  
  
He came to her. "You did." He said. "Seems one of the Johns brothers has blown up the entrances to these caves. They probably left one open. They'll be hunting me soon."  
  
Jacqueline stood and walked over to Riddick. "We're trapped?" She asked.  
  
She saw his smile. "Now you know I wouldn't let that happen to you, Jacqueline." He stood and gathered their very few things into one bundle, which he wrapped in their thin sleeping mats and tied with string. He wore it securely on his body. After adjusting her bag snugly onto her body he looked at her and kissed her lightly. "Let's go." They walked to the underground lake, which Jacqueline was seeing for the first time.  
  
"A long time ago I read this story. Ancient texts. This creature lived deep in a mountain, in the middle of a lake." Riddick said. He pointed and Jacqueline looked across the lake and saw sheer rock face on the other side. "Hid there for thousands of years." He took her hand in his and led her into the water. "Follow me." He said as the water got to her chest. "There is an underwater tunnel that opens out to a space. You can't see it from the lakeshore and you can't get to it without getting your feet wet."  
  
He swam and Jacqueline followed. As they neared the wall on the other shore he jack knifed, diving into the black water. She followed him underwater through the short underwater tunnel and up. They surfaced and Jacqueline saw that they were in a completely enclosed space. With a few strokes they were able to stand in the shallow water. Riddick guided her to shore. "Our new home." He said, looking around.  
  
They walked around until they were on the far side, where Riddick took off the bundle he was wearing. Jacqueline did the same with her bag. She watched as Riddick entered a small cavern and tossed his bundle inside. He turned to her. "Set things up for us." He said. "I'm going to do a little investigating."  
  
He waded back into the water and dove.  
  
Jacqueline entered the little cavern. With her new eyes she looked around. Enough space for the two of them to move around in relative comfort. A safe place for them to sleep. It was only a few minutes before she had everything set up. She walked along the water's edge when she was done. There was vegetation here, she noticed. She now knew where Riddick was getting the fish and vegetables that they were living on. During their swim she saw the fish. Some of them slightly luminescent. And there were several sorts of vegetation right here in the cove.  
  
She reached the stretch of land just across from where their camp was and she looked up. She saw the dark shape that was a hole in the mountain wall between the cove and the rest of the mountain. The climb was steep, but not difficult and she climbed up to the hole. She found it was thrice as wide as she was and she could see down into the lake beyond.  
  
She lay and watched the nothingness for a while and she was awakened by a very slight sound. She watched Riddick on the shore, making sure there were no telltale signs of feet as he moved to the shore. He had a few more things in his hands. He began swimming and Jacqueline climbed down from her lookout post just as he surfaced. He waded out of the water.   
  
"You found the lookout nook, I see." He said. "Good. When they come, we'll be able to watch them."  
  
He'd brought some waterproof matches and more sharp flints for making the small smokeless fires he cooked with. But on the way back to their camp, they harvested the hearty vegetables. As they ate, Riddick told her where he'd been.  
  
"They sealed all but one entrance. That far one. Both the Johns brothers are back. Iman is back too. They were talking about him. They have a posse after us. Must have convinced someone I was still alive." He frowned slightly. "Probably friends and family of my victims."  
  
Jacqueline remained silent as Riddick talked. "It'll take them at least a week to search this string of caves, if they do it thoroughly." He murmured. "Then they'll search the planet again. Give them a month. Then they'll be gone."  
  
Riddick took Jacqueline's hand in his. "We have at least a day's worth of honeymooning." he said, leaning into her for a kiss.  
  
Jacqueline was able to make love with Riddick for the first time while able to see his movements and reactions. 


	4. Chapter Four: Life Changes

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Four: Life Changes  
  
  
Over the next few days they ate, talked, made love, slept and developed a simple, subtle hand language to use when the searchers inevitably came looking for them. They were startled awake by the sound of voices. Riddick put a finger to his lips, then to Jacqueline's, indicating they were to begin their silent communication now.  
  
They listened as they silently crept to the other side of the cove and began their climb to their lookout. They could already see the light of the torches cutting the gloom. Jacqueline felt a slight pain at the lights.  
  
"What the hell is this?" A voice said.  
  
"Underground lake." They recognized the voice of Peter.  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline settled into the lookout and watched the men and their lights.  
  
There were fifteen men, all but one of them heavily armed. Jacqueline could make out Peter and David Johns by their shapes. The only other man she knew was Iman.  
  
The men stood examining the land around the lake. One of the unknown men knelt and felt the water. "It's hot." He said.  
  
"This mountain is an inactive volcano." Iman said.  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline kept their heads low as light played along the wall.  
  
"There isn't even a strip of land on the other side for them to hide on." Another unknown man said, examining the other side of the lake carefully. "And no boat. No sign of a boat." He turned the light on David Johns. "No sign yet of human beings."  
  
"I have told you many times that Riddick is not here." Iman said. "And that Jack ran away. You brought horrible memories back to her, Mr. Johns. Then chasing me while I searched for her,"  
  
Peter said. "I was told you left with a student and a man."  
  
"I left with a male and female student." Iman said, sounding frustrated. "To look for Jack. You followed me and we never found anyone. And thanks to you, Jack may never come back here. This is not a sanctuary for her any more."  
  
David shrugged. "We're almost done searching the caves. Won't take more than another day. I know Riddick is alive. I can feel it in my bones. And I'll bet my right arm that little bitch is with him."  
  
Iman just shook his head. "Finish your search and then leave my school please, Mr. Johns. You are just as unpleasant as your brother."  
  
Peter began walking. "Let's hurry this up." He half groaned. "The others should be done searching the surface of the planet by the time we get out of here. But he's not here, David. Let's just face facts."  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline watched as the men all walked away. They had not been seen.  
  
They remained silent for most of the next few days. Riddick seemed to take the time to think. Jacqueline spent much of the time really exploring the grotto they were in. When they were together they talked in their silent language, occasionally adding a sign here or there in whispered voices. They both enjoyed their silent lovemaking.  
  
Jacqueline woke to the sound of a muffled explosion. She found Riddick standing naked at the edge of the water. She approached him from behind and wrapped her arms around him. He was holding a chronograph he had with him that marked the days, as the planet knew them.  
  
"They are out of the caves now." He said aloud. "They just sealed us in." He glanced at the chronograph. "They'll leave the planet soon."  
  
Since there was no sign of worry in Riddick's voice and because she knew him so well, Jacqueline knew there had to be another way out of the caves that she didn't know about. "So when do we go."  
  
He turned in her arms. "Two weeks, to be safe." He said, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm a fugitive again. Still." He looked down at her. "Since I'm dead there is no reward for me this time. They'll kill me on sight, Jack."  
  
Jacqueline looked up at him. "So we won't be found." She considered a moment. "Or we'll have to kill or be killed." She said quietly. "We're going to have to kill the Johns brothers, aren't we? Because if we don't kill them, they will kill us."  
  
She noted the half grin. "What's all this we?" He said. "It's me they want to kill."  
  
Jacqueline nodded. "But I am with you. And I am not leaving you."  
  
Riddick was quiet, holding her. Then he began to nod. "I'm going to see if they found the other entrance. If they did, we'll both die in here." And he turned and waded to the middle of the small body of water and dived.  
  
  
  
They waited two weeks before they chanced leaving the caves. The underground entrance to the caves had not been found, Riddick discovered. The chronograph told them pretty well when it was night and day.  
  
Riddick handed Jacqueline a pair of dark goggles. "Where these on your forehead." He said. "Before we surface outside, out them over your eyes. Light is going to be very painful to you now."  
  
Jacqueline nodded and adjusted the glasses on her forehead. They took their meager belongings and took the short underwater swim to the main lake. Jacqueline followed Riddick to a far corner of the lake where they stopped to rest.  
  
"This swim is going to be a lung buster." He said. "You ready for this?"  
  
Jacqueline nodded. "Ready."  
  
Riddick had been absolutely right. The underwater corridor was deep and by the time they surfaced, Jacqueline was sure she was going to drown. She was so obsessed with not breathing she almost forgot to put the goggles on, but she managed to get them on in time. Both of them were gasping desperately for air. They swam for shore as quickly as their paining lungs would permit.  
  
Lying on her back on the shore, Jacqueline noticed that the first moon was setting. It was the middle of the night. No one should be awake at the school.  
  
"We'll go to Iman." Riddick said. "Hopefully he'll have a way for us to get off of this planet."  
  
They were extremely careful getting to the school, but encountered no one. When they reached Iman's modest house, they went into its shadow and knocked on the metal slats of the window. After a moment Iman's face appeared and he threw the window open for them. They clambered into Iman's bedroom.  
  
"Thank Allah!" Iman cheered, greeting them. "I was worried they would find you in those caves. How did you get away from them?" He looked at Jacqueline. He looked at Jacqueline's goggles, but said nothing.  
  
Iman led them into his kitchen where he began preparing a meal for them. Jacqueline gave Iman a shortened version of what had happened. Iman nodded. "I thought that might have happened when the medical equipment disappeared." He glanced at Riddick. "You know medicine." And then he held up his hand. "Of course you do. You just couldn't do the surgical shine operation on yourself."  
  
Riddick only nodded. Iman set the food out for them and stood while Jacqueline and Riddick ate.  
  
Jacqueline sighed with the first mouthful then looked up at Iman and said. "I was down there for about twenty-one or twenty-two days. It's dark down there Iman. I would have gone insane if Benjamin hadn't fixed my eyes."  
  
Iman's eyebrows rose. "Benjamin?" He looked at Riddick.  
  
"Don't ask." Riddick said, between mouthfuls. He swallowed and said. "Where did the Johns brothers go?"  
  
"They took their posse and left this planet looking for you two." Iman said sadly. "It seems that many of the people with them are back to believing that you are dead, my friend."  
  
Riddick studied Iman. "But not the Johns brothers, right Holy Man?"  
  
Iman nodded. "They want revenge. They think you killed their brother."  
  
Riddick nodded. "I gathered that." He said dryly. "Do you have some sort of transport we can use to get off of this planet?" He asked, taking the water Iman offered him.  
  
Iman nodded. "I can give you transportation and food to last you some time." He said. He glanced at Jacqueline. "You will be leaving together?"  
  
Jacqueline blushed slightly and said, "Yes. I'm going with him."  
  
Riddick placed his glass on the table and stood. He walked over to the small kitchen window. He lifted the steel blinds and frowned into the bright night. "This planet never gets dark, does it?"  
  
Iman shrugged. "I admit to still having a bit of a phobia about the darkness." He cleared the table. "Do you need anything else? Money I do not have."  
  
Riddick did not turn. "I can get money. Not a problem." He closed the blinds but did not turn. "Can you do marriages, Holy Man?"  
  
Iman almost dropped his dishes. He turned from his sink and looked at Jacqueline. "Yes. I can do marriages. It is within my powers."  
  
Jacqueline was looking at Riddick's broad back. He turned from the window. "Would you marry us?" He asked.  
  
Iman looked surprised but laughed. "I would be honored to join you and Jack in marriage." He considered a moment, and then said. "I will have my aid, Zaki witness." He said. "He will be here in a few minutes. I will marry you before morning prayers. You will be safe in the school's guest house and can leave on the school shuttle tomorrow night."  
  
Riddick nodded, once. "Good." He said. He walked into the other room without looking at Jacqueline.  
  
Jacqueline looked at Iman, who was still smiling. "I told you." Iman said. "While you were in the hospital. He loved you even then."  
  
Jacqueline didn't reply. She stood and went after Riddick. He was in the sitting area of the three-room house, looking again out of the blinds.  
  
"You don't have to." Jacqueline said, but stopped when Riddick held up his arm.  
  
"Besides the slam, I've never done anything I didn't want to do, Jacqueline." He said. He turned to face her. "I want to marry you. I have for a long time, but before you were just too young." He opened his arms and she went into them. "You've grown up a lot from that little boy I met on that shit desert planet."  
  
Jacqueline chuckled into his chest but said nothing. She let him continue. "I never cared about anyone before then. And when I left you and the Holy Man, I thought I could forget about you. Didn't happen." He pushed her away slightly and they looked into each other's eyes. "You were right in the caves. I do love you. That's why I stayed in touch and came here. You were absolutely right."  
  
Before she could respond there was a soft knock at the door. Iman appeared immediately and motioned for them to go into his bedroom. Instead Riddick led Jacqueline into the kitchen, where they both armed themselves with knives.  
  
They listened as Iman traded greetings and short conversation with someone. He appeared in the kitchen. "This is Zaki." He said, as he watched first Jacqueline then Riddick relax and put the knives down. "His brother was with us," he broke off. "On that pilgrimage so long ago."  
  
Zaki came forward cautiously, obviously unaccustomed to meeting people prepared to stab him. The four of them went back into Iman's sitting room and Iman positioned Riddick and Jacqueline side by side. He stood before them.  
  
"This will not be a conventional wedding." He said. "For these are not conventional people who stand before God to pledge there love and lives to each other." He turned his attention to Jacqueline. "I think I will let your words speak in my stead."  
  
Jacqueline paused, took a deep breath and turned to Riddick. "You saved my life." She began. "And then you kept watching over me. No one has ever done that before. You make me feel loved. I will stay by your side forever."  
  
Iman nodded, pleased with her words. He turned to Riddick.  
  
For almost a full minute Riddick said nothing. He looked at Jacqueline with deadly seriousness. "I've never loved anyone before you came into my life. And I will never love anyone else."  
  
Iman smiled brightly at Riddick's words. He concluded the ceremony with, "Richard Benjamin Riddick, you may kiss your wife." 


	5. Chapter Five: The Start of a New Journe...

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Five: The Start of a New Journey  
  
  
Iman stood in the school shuttle and watched Riddick prepare it for takeoff. Riddick nodded and stood, walking back to Iman and shaking his hand.  
  
Iman shook his hand and gave Jacqueline a hug. "Good luck to you." He said. "You will be in my thoughts and in my prayers." He turned to go but stopped. He turned and looked at Riddick. "May I ask you a question?" He asked.  
  
Riddick raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Sure, Father."  
  
Iman licked his lips. "We spoke of God together once." He said. "You said you hated him. Do you still feel that way?"  
  
Riddick considered his answer. He glanced at Jacqueline. "I absolutely believe in God." He said to Iman, not for the first time. "I don't know if I still hate the fucker or not. But things are looking up." He said cautiously.  
  
Iman laughed a rich laugh. "That is a start." He said. He shook hands with Riddick one final time and left the shuttle.  
  
Jacqueline sat beside Riddick as he started the shuttle and took off. They were both relieved when they entered the darkness of space.  
  
Riddick glanced at her. "You not ready for this?" He grinned. "Mrs. Riddick."  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "I never had a doubt before." She said. "I'm not going to start now."  
  
  
  
"It's called Caliga." Riddick said, reading the chart. "Looks like the whole planet is covered in mist." He said.  
  
They were approaching their seventh planet. They would spend months in hyper sleep then find a planet and begin a life together. Then word would reach them about two bounty hunters looking for two fugitives from the law. They would always move on before anyone suspected who they were and before the Johns brothers got too close to them.  
  
They hoped that this time would be different for them. They were on their way to colonize Caliga. Iman was able to get word to them on Orob. He was taking several pilgrims to colonize a misty forest planet on the very edge of space. The planet had one sun and two moons. One of which was a forest moon. They left Orob as soon as possible, even though no word of the Johns brothers had yet reached them.  
  
Iman had strongly suggested that they try and be as honest as possible, and so they were, for the first time since leaving Jacqueline's school, Mr. and Mrs. Riddick. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Riddick. The pilgrims' husband and wife piloting team.  
  
"Let's see if we can find a place to land." Riddick said. "I see a shit load of fog. Under it someplace is water and trees." He grumbled.  
  
"So we turn the ship into a tree house or into a house boat." Jacqueline said, grinning while she adjusted some coordinates. "Your choice."  
  
Riddick glared good-naturedly at her. "Your funny."  
  
"I am nothing but the co-pilot." She said, chuckling. "My job is to keep the pilot's attention focused. Can't have you falling asleep at the wheel, can we?"  
  
"After six months in hyper sleep?" Riddick said, chuckling himself. "The last thing I want to do is sleep." He looked over at her meaningfully. "What say we put this crate on auto-pilot and,"  
  
Jacqueline cut him off, laughing. "Just land this boat, skipper." But she winked. "Once we get the pilgrims settled we'll have the rest of our lives to make up for all those years in hyper sleep."  
  
Riddick sighed melodramatically. "Yes dear." he said, grinning. He gave his attention to the viewer. "I can't see a fucking thing." He said. There was silence for a long time as he maneuvered the ship through the misty air of the planet. He was flying using the sensors. "There!" He suddenly said. "That's a hell of a big lake. Maybe a small ocean. I can land on the water near the tree line."  
  
"Should I start waking the passengers, Captain?" Jacqueline asked, formally.  
  
"They've slept long enough." Riddick said.  
  
Jacqueline began the sequence to bring the pilgrims out of hyper sleep as Riddick maneuvered the ship. The landing was gentle, thanks to the water.  
  
Just as the ship stopped moving the lids of the sleep chambers began to rise and the pilgrims begin to awaken. Jacqueline and Riddick were standing nearby when Iman rose and looked at them.  
  
"We are home?" He asked.  
  
"We're on Caliga, anyway." Riddick said. "It's up to you to make it a home, right?"  
  
Iman smiled at him. "With the help of Allah, yes."  
  
Riddick just nodded. "Let's see where the hell we are?" He said and went to the main hatch. He opened it and looked at the shore. "Damn, I'm good." He said. He'd landed the ship less than fifteen feet from the shoreline.  
  
He felt the slap on his back and turned his head to see Jacqueline smiling at him. "Never had a doubt." she said.  
  
Riddick smiled back at her. "Let's get a gangplank set up." He said to her. He turned around completely to see that most of the passengers were looking out of the hatch past him into the dense forest. He raised his voice. "Welcome to Caliga, ladies and gentlemen." He said, smiling for them.  
  
  
  
Jacqueline surreptitiously watched the looks the pilgrims gave them. She and Riddick were the only two people carrying arms. Iman had gathered the pilgrims together at the shoreline for a quick prayer. Jacqueline and Riddick stood on the gangplank, where they had a good view. They stood side-by-side watching left, right and center. They wore dark glasses, although in the mist it wasn't as bad as if they were in direct sunlight.  
  
Iman ended his prayer. "And finally, we thank you for our pilots and protectors. For giving them the gifts that brought us here safely."  
  
"Oh for fucks sake." Riddick grumbled. Jacqueline shushed him.  
  
When the pilgrims ended their prayer and began to disperse to look around, Iman and two other pilgrims walked up to Riddick and Jacqueline.  
  
"These folks wanted to meet you." Iman said, cheerfully. "Jonathan and Rose Shin, meet Benjamin and Jacqueline Riddick."  
  
Jonathan shook hands with both Jacqueline and Riddick, but Rose looked very anxiously at the rifles on their hips. "Are those loaded?" she asked nervously.  
  
"Yes." Riddick said with half a grin. "Fully."  
  
Jacqueline watched Rose's eyes get big. "We have to protect the colony somehow, don't we?" She said to Rose, trying to put her at ease.  
  
Rose sputtered. "I've never seen a woman with a gun before." She said.  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "I'm just like any other woman I guess."  
  
Rose shook her head. "Oh no!" she said, her voice full of admiration. "You're a pilot. You are so," Rose was at a loss of words.  
  
Jacqueline could tell that Riddick was trying not to laugh out loud. She nodded to Rose and Jonathan. "It's nice to meet you." She said. "But we'd better start looking around. Make sure we're in relatively friendly territory."  
  
As they were walking away, Riddick joked. "Looks like you have a fan, Jack."  
  
"Oh for fucks sake." Jacqueline grumbled.  
  
  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to join us next time, Jack?" Rose asked a few months later.  
  
Jacqueline chuckled. "I'm afraid that sewing circles just aren't for me. They never really have been. But thanks for asking. Every time."  
  
Rose blushed. "Just trying to be polite." She said. She looked around the ship, which the Riddick's were now calling home. "When will you and Benjamin build a home?" She asked.  
  
Jacqueline shrugged. "We want to know we're going to stay here first." She said.  
  
"Why wouldn't you stay here" Rose asked, genuinely confused.  
  
"We don't usually stay in one place for too long." Riddick said, coming from the back of the ship with Jonathan.  
  
Rose again looked a little shocked and confused. "But what about children. They need a stable home."  
  
Jacqueline looked at Rose. "We aren't going to be having any children." She said, gently. "I had an," she paused, remembering Calvin. "An accident when I was seventeen. It left me unable to have children."  
  
Rose looked embarrassed. "Is that what happened to your eyes?" She asked. "The accident damaged your eyes? You and Benjamin."  
  
Jacqueline and Riddick tried not to be seen too much without their dark glasses when they were among the pilgrims. They were aware that their eyes might bring unwanted attention.  
  
Riddick pursed his lips. "It was a contributing factor." He said, his voice grumbling.  
  
Jonathan nodded. "Well, we must be thankful that your actual eyesight was not effected." and Rose nodded.  
  
Jacqueline nodded politely. The Shins had become friendly with the Riddick's and had come over that night to share a meal. They always talked late afterwards. They were monitoring their scanner, as was their habit. And Iman was there as well, as he often was.  
  
"We must thank you for sharing your anniversary dinner with us." Iman said, smiling.  
  
"It was the least we could do." Riddick said, looking at Iman.  
  
"Five years." Rose breathed. "Someday we will be so blessed."  
  
"Most of it spent in hyper sleep." Jacqueline said. "This will be the third anniversary we have spent together not in some hyper chamber."  
  
"It must be wonderful to travel so much." Jonathan said to Riddick.  
  
Riddick shrugged and was going to reply when they heard the scanner. The Riddick's were in the habit of monitoring channels. He inclined his head towards the scanner.  
  
"They were last seen on Orob." The scanner said.  
  
"That's a long way from here" came a reply.  
  
Iman frowned deeply at the scanner.  
  
"They've been running from galaxy to galaxy for a long time." The original voice said. "It's not impossible they are in this quadrant."  
  
"The only people in this quadrant are on Caliga. That's going to take you a few days at your present heading and sped."  
  
There was a pause. "We'll speed things up. Thanks for your help."  
  
And the scanner went on to other communications.  
  
Jacqueline sighed and looked at Jonathan and Rose. "Well, I'm getting pretty tired." She said. "I guess Benjamin and I should say goodnight."  
  
Jonathan stood and shook hands with Riddick while his wife said goodbye to Jacqueline. They left quickly. Iman stayed behind.  
  
"David and Peter Johns." He said. "They are looking for you again." Riddick nodded and Iman continued. "You will be moving on, then."  
  
Riddick bit his lip. "Maybe." He said. He peered past Iman into the darkening night. "Or we'll finally end this nonsense."  
  
Iman looked a little concerned at this comment, but he said nothing. He nodded and went down the gangplank into the darkening night.  
  
Riddick closed the hatch and went to stand with Jacqueline. She sighed. "This was a beautiful place to stay." She said.  
  
Riddick nodded. "I was getting used to it too." He said. "Some anniversary. I'm sorry."  
  
Jacqueline went to him and they held each other. "Nothing for you to be sorry about, Benjamin." She said. "Come' on. Let's get some sleep."  
  
  
  
Jonathan interrupted their breakfast the next morning. He looked very serious.  
  
"I talked to Iman last night. After we left." He said, looking at Riddick. "He told us about your twin brother."  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline hid their confusion, but raised their eyebrows. "He did?"   
  
"It must be terrible to have a twin brother like that." Jonathan continued. "To be chased down like you have been."  
  
Riddick recovered. "Yes." He said, guessing at what Iman had told Jonathan. "Iman told you about Richard, then?"  
  
Jonathan nodded. "And we will support you." He said. "Talk to these men when they come here. Explain things to them."  
  
Jacqueline shook her head. "Do you know what they want with us, Jonathan?" She asked. "They won't listen to your explanations."  
  
"They want to take Benjamin into custody." Jonathan said. "For crimes he didn't commit."  
  
Riddick considered a moment. "Jonathan. I don't have a brother. I am Richard Riddick."  
  
Jonathan looked confused. "Iman told me," he began.  
  
"Iman lied to protect us." Riddick said. He looked at Jacqueline. "It's a long story, but we need to get this settled. I'm tired of running from the Johns brothers. We're going to have to take a stand."  
  
The Riddick's sat Jonathan down and told him the whole story. 


	6. Chapter Six: The Stand

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Six: The Stand  
  
  
They never collected much and so packing their lives onto their backs was easy. Each had a light pack and each carried knives, not guns. They each carried a crossbow. Riddick's was heavy, Jacqueline's light. And the quivers. They were ready to leave only a few hours after Jonathan had arrived.  
  
Iman and Jonathan watched as the Riddick's boarded their small, modified shuttle and took off. Once they were gone they would told the pilgrims the truth about their pilots.  
  
"And so," Iman said, concluding the story. "Riddick has been a horrible person. But I believe that he has mended his ways. He and his wife brought us here safely and have never harmed any one of us. And I know that he would not. I ask you for your forgiveness of my lies to you and the lies the Riddick's were forced to tell you."  
  
Peter and David Johns arrived much earlier than they were expected, but the pilgrims were ready. Iman and Jonathan were at hand when their small craft landed on the small landing strip the Riddick's had built for their own small craft.  
  
The Johns brothers were smiling when they left their craft. Their smiles only widened when they saw Iman.  
  
"If it isn't the holy man who hides fugitives." David Johns said, in a friendly tone of voice. "I guess you're going to tell us that Riddick and his whore aren't here?"  
  
Iman smiled broadly. "Welcome to Caliga." He said. "I am not going to tell you any such thing. The Riddick's are on this planet. They were our pilots. They brought us to this beautiful land of plenty and are friends to the entire community."  
  
Peter Johns rolled his eyes. "Then your entire community can give them the funeral of the century." He said. "Where are they?"  
  
Jonathan stepped beside Iman. "They left the village early this morning." He said. "They had no wish to put us in harms way. I do not know where they went, but they were headed that way." He motioned with his arm. "They took their shuttle, which isn't going to get them off of the planet."  
  
David Johns looked suspiciously at the gathering villagers. "I've heard the story of them not being close before." He said. "This time we will search as long as it takes to find them." And he started forward.  
  
Rose Shin stepped in his way. "I know they have sinned. But they have repented and made it up to us all." She said, almost desperately. "Leave them in peace."  
  
David raised his hand and slapped Rose tot he ground. He raised his voice. "We will search this village for that murdering ass and if anyone gets in our way,"  
  
His words were cut off by the high whine of a shuttle engine. He looked up, as did everyone in the village. The shuttle passed them so low that everyone was forced onto their bellies. It passed, rose into the air, hovered long enough for the Johns brothers to get a good look at it and took off at a high speed.  
  
"That's them!" Peter screamed. "Come on, David!"  
  
The Johns brothers raced to their shuttle and raced after the shuttle.  
  
  
  
Riddick was glad for the few months they'd had to explore Caliga. He led the Johns brothers into the most dangerous areas, the mountain pass that divided the entire planet into hemispheres.  
  
He frowned when the Johns brothers began firing at their shuttle. The shuttle he was piloting was not equipped to fire.  
  
"They're going to shoot us down!" Jacqueline said. "Just like you thought."  
  
Riddick nodded. "And we'll go down into the mountains" he said. "Perfect."  
  
Jacqueline was less sure than her husband. She braced herself as one of the shots fired by the shuttle chasing them found its mark.  
  
"Ready for some fun?" He asked as black smoke billowed behind them.  
  
Riddick miraculously maneuvered the shuttle in for a landing. The shuttle slammed on top of the mountain and slid down fast and furious before coming to rest against a large tree.  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline grabbed their gear and quickly exited the shuttle. The side of the mountain was against the setting sun and so was the first part of the planet to become dark. That was advantageous to them.  
  
They heard the John's brother's shuttle landing well behind them. They skittered down the mountainside for a while before the mountain began to level out.  
  
"Time to stand." Jacqueline murmured as they looked around the dark landscape.  
  
The forest they were in was dense. They stood behind large trees and listened. And it was not half an hour before they heard the voices of the Johns brothers.  
  
Peter shouted first, his voice echoing against the trees. "We are evenly matched, Riddick." He yelled. "Night vision goggles make it so we can see as easily as you."  
  
Riddick smiled. "In this forest, night vision doesn't matter. We aren't the only four who can see in the dark, Johns."  
  
David wondered aloud to his brother. "What's he talking about?"  
  
Jacqueline answered him. "First of all, you are after us for a crime no one committed. Some night creature killed your brother, not Riddick."  
  
"Do you really expect us to believe that, little girl?" David shouted back, still scanning the area looking for them. The echoes made location difficult.  
  
"That doesn't matter. This will be a short-lived chase. We'll be lucky if they don't kill all of us." Riddick shouted.  
  
Peter scoffed. "I don't believe there is a 'they', Riddick. Now come out and die like a man."  
  
Riddick heard the sounds before the Johns brothers did and he and Jacqueline quickly moved on.  
  
The spider was easily as tall as Peter Johns. He froze in panic when it ran out and bowled him over. He would surely have died if his brother had not acted. The spider returned and began its attack. Its fangs had barely touched Peter when David shot it, blowing it off of his brother.  
  
David helped Peter to his feet. "Do you believe there is a 'they' now?" He asked, dryly.  
  
Peter was panting. "That was an "It." He said, angrily.  
  
"Then that makes them 'they'." David said, leveling his weapon over in his brother's direction.  
  
Peter saw the move and whirled. He pulled out his pistol and shot the second spider, this one smaller than the first three times. The spider jittered and died.  
  
Peter stood staring at the spider he'd just killed. He pointed to it with the pistol. "Male." Then he turned and looked with his brother at the first, larger spider. "Female."  
  
"They hunt in pairs?" David asked.  
  
"Looks like. And if it weren't for the night vision goggles we would be dead already." Peter said. He took a deep breath. "But spiders aren't particular. They'll be hunting all of us."  
  
"He crashed here on purpose." David said. "I'm willing to bet those spiders don't go far from this range of mountains. We're in the middle of their territory."  
  
Peter did not respond. He was looking around. He slowly walked in the direction the spiders had come from.  
  
"They went that way." David said, frowning and pointing in the opposite direction.  
  
"I want to know where these spiders came from." Peter said. "Might give us some clues how to avoid them." He walked a bit further. "There." He said, pointing.  
  
In the green of the night-vision goggles David and Peter saw the huge tree. It had been broken or chewed through just before the tree began to taper off. They could see the web material overflowing the tops of the obviously hollowed out tree. "They nested there." Peter said as his brother came up beside him.  
  
"We must have disturbed them when we chased the Riddick's down here." David said. "Or they disturbed them coming down here. One or the other." He shuddered. "Fucking spiders." He groaned. "Wonderful!"  
  
"We've dealt with worse." Peter said, turning around and heading back to the dead spiders. He raised his night-vision goggles. He saw the spider was covered in thin fur and lavender. "Pretty." He murmured. "I just hope we get to Riddick and his whore before these spiders do." David looked at his brother a moment. "I'd hate to lose out on the opportunity of killing them myself."  
  
  
  
Jacqueline watched as the giant spider dragged the little remaining part of its prey up the trunk of its tree and disappeared inside. "Beautiful." She breathed.  
  
Riddick simply nodded, enraptured with the animal. They watched a moment longer then moved on. They jogged past several more of the spiders' nests before they stopped again.  
  
"We can run around like this until we get lucky." Riddick said. "But I think it would be best if we got our friends to help us." He nodded towards the trees where they could see three of the spiders' nests. Behind them they saw another three. The arachnids effectively surrounded them.  
  
Jacqueline pursed her lips. "Hands free kill." She murmured. "Basically we don't kill them. We let the spiders do it for us?"  
  
"Exactly." Riddick said. "I didn't kill their brother. I'm not going to kill them."  
  
Jacqueline nodded again. "Well, we know the spiders are really passive until provoked. Then they tear up anything that moves. They'll take the pieces back to their nest. Those spiderlings will have hatched by now. Hungry little babies to feed."  
  
Riddick nodded, looking around. He pointed to a tree a few feet away. "We'll climb up there. Lay in the high branches. Stay as still as possible, Jacqueline. If they come after us, instead of the Johns brothers." He sighed. "That would seriously fuck up my plan."  
  
Jacqueline grinned. "I was about to say the same thing to you, Benjamin."  
  
They climbed the mammoth trees until they were well above the height the spiders usually lobbed off the trees. The used their knives to gain purchase against the bark. It was a tough climb, but they both made it. They lay each on a separate branch, but close to each other.  
  
Each of them prepared their crossbows with the bolts they'd made themselves. Long ago they had given up on most conventional weapons. Weapon brought attention and they had always avoided attention. Riddick taught Jacqueline how to handle knives and together they had learned and mastered crossbows.  
  
They could reach their quivers for more bolts if they needed them. Each had fifteen bolts. After they were spent they would have to resort to their knives if they still needed to defend themselves.  
  
And they waited.  
  
They heard the Johns brothers even before they saw them. Neither Riddick made a sound. When the Johns brothers were within the imagined perimeter Jacqueline fired first.  
  
The bolt hit just inside of the spiders nest, making the entire top of the nest vibrate. The reaction was quick. Both the male and female spider came rushing out. They had sharp eyes and quickly saw the Johns brothers.  
  
The second both brothers were turning in the direction of the first two spiders, Riddick loosed his bolt in the opposite direction.  
  
"Jesus!" they heard Peter Johns scream as he opened fire along with his brother on the four advancing spiders.  
  
Both Riddick's now sent bolts into two more spiders' nests, disturbing four more spiders into attacking. They prepared their crossbows again, but held their fire. They remained motionless and watched the scene below unfold.  
  
The Johns brothers were unprepared for such a vicious attack. They killed the original two spiders and one of the second pair. It was then their troubles began. They ran out of ammunition.  
  
David Johns was grabbed in the pincers of a small male. He realized then that the spiders were not poisonous, as they had assumed. He did not die immediately.  
  
Peter Johns watched as the male began to pull his screeching brother away. He was so fascinated he did not see the large female come from behind him and grab him by the shoulders with her pincers.  
  
The brothers screamed and watched each other as they were dragged in opposite directions. David Johns was grabbed by the head in a female's pincers. His screams were cut off as she ripped his head off. Immediately another male came up and began a tug-of-war for the corpse. The two males fought briefly over what was left of David Johns. He was ripped at the waist and then the first spider to grab him won most of his torso, leaving the other male with only his arm.  
  
Peter Johns saw little of this. Grabbed and lifted by one of the three female spiders he found himself surrounded. Two other females grabbed him. One grabbed his legs and the other his head. He did not know which parted his body first; his legs or his head.  
  
It was over in less than thirty seconds. Jacqueline and Riddick watched motionless as the spiders, having ripped the bodies apart now began fighting each other. It was as if they'd fought together only to turn on each other. Riddick was very glad he'd spent the time he needed to study these creatures.  
  
The three females first turned on the four males, killing them quickly and ripping their legs off. The slowest female was still ripping at the corpse of a male when the other two females attacked her. They killed her in less than a minute and then they turned on each other.  
  
The remaining two females squared off, waving their front legs at each other. They seemed to move closer to each other and then back off. They circled each other menanacingly.  
  
Shrugging his shoulders ever so slightly, Riddick gave the signal. Jacqueline and Riddick shot their prepared bolts into a spider each. Jacqueline's bold killed her spider immediately, burying itself in the spider from head to furry purple abdomen.  
  
Riddick's spider spun, a bold buried in its abdomen. It whirled around immediately and seemed to fixate on the tree Riddick and Jacqueline were in. With lightening quickness it charged the tree.  
  
Riddick got another bolt in it before it reached the tree, but it barely slowed the spider. Jacqueline aimed at the spider quickly began climbing the tree. Her bolt went into the spider from head to abdomen and coming out the back of the spider, burying its tip in the soft ground.  
  
The spider froze, tottered and fell onto the bolt in the ground, impaling itself.  
  
Riddick stared at the corpse a moment, and then turned his head to his wife. "Do you know hoe jealous I am that you are better with a crossbow than I am?"  
  
Jacqueline chuckled. "But no one can throw a knife like you can, Benjamin. No one. And if we had a pistol or rifle,"  
  
"You are as good as I am with pistols and rifles." He said, interrupting her. "I taught you everything you know. You're going to have to help me with the crossbow. I obviously need more practice."  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "Maybe we'll run into some more spiders on our way out of this forest."  
  
Riddick snorted, smiled and looked again at the spider at the base of the tree. "I'm looking forward to it." He said, dryly.  
  
  
  
Rose could hardly see anything in the pale dawn. She watched the sky anxiously.  
  
"I'm sure they're fine, Rose." Jonathan said, coming beside her and putting his arm around her shoulder.  
  
Rose was shaking slightly. "Pray so, husband. But it's been two days." She murmured. Suddenly she stiffened and pointed. "Look! Jonathan. A shuttle."  
  
They ran in the early morning fog to the landing strip where they found Iman already waiting for them. They watched the shape approach in the heavy morning fog. It approached slowly.  
  
Rose whimpered. "It's not them. That shuttle isn't theirs. It belongs to those horrid brothers." She began to cry.  
  
The shuttle landed smoothly and the main doors began to open. Rose stopped shocked as two large bags were tossed out of the shuttle and onto the pad. One bag was drenched in a purple liquid and the other in a pale blue liquid.  
  
Rose squealed in joy and ran to greet Jacqueline when she came walking out of the shuttle with her husband. Jacqueline was almost knocked over.  
  
"I was so worried!" Rose sobbed. "Are you alright?"  
  
Jacqueline smiled at her friend. "Of course I'm alright." She said, as if Rose had just asked a silly question.  
  
Iman looked thoroughly relieved as he approached and shook Riddick's hand. "I am glad to see you alive." He said. "Where are the Johns brothers?"  
  
Riddick remained deadpan. "Which part?" He said. "Those spiders we told you about. The ones that live in the mountains? They got 'em."  
  
Iman grimaced. Jonathan was looking at the bags. "What are these?" he asked.  
  
"Meat." Riddick said, simply. After a moment's pause he said. "The purple one is a baby spider. Try them before you turn your nose up, Jonathan." He said, noting Jonathan's look of disgust. "The blue one is a pig like animal the spiders like to feed on."  
  
Jonathan did not look impressed, but took the bags away anyway. Rose followed him after giving Jacqueline a final look over.  
  
Iman looked at the Riddick's. "They will come looking for the Johns brothers." He said, looking concerned.  
  
"I know they will." Riddick said. "Tell them the secret to keeping the spiders calm and they should be able to find what's left of their bodies. Tell them whatever you want. Just keep us out of it, please."  
  
Iman nodded. "You will be leaving us now?" He asked, sounding a little sad.  
  
Jacqueline grinned. "We won't go far, Iman." She said. "We will always stay close to you."  
  
Iman smiled as he watched the Riddick's adjourn into their home on the lake. 


	7. Chapter Seven: IGPS The InterGalactic ...

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Seven: I.G.P.S - The InterGalactic Penal System  
  
Silva was Caliga's forested moon. Because of the way the planet of Caliga moved in conjunction with its single small sun and two moons Silva's days were lopsided to the average person. The days were thirty-one hours long and the sun shone on the planet only eleven of those hours. The forest covering the moon was denser even than the forests on Caliga and the sunlight rarely hit the ground.  
  
In other words, it was an ideal home for light-sensitive creatures.  
  
Jacqueline and Riddick built a home for themselves. It was fortified against the moons two primary predators. But they were not a problem for the Riddick's. They were able to live in relative harmony with the moon they'd adopted as their home.  
  
They left Caliga almost immediately after the Johns brothers were killed by the planet's giant spiders. Authorities did come searching for the Riddick's but when they discovered the few remaining bones of the Johns brothers they concluded correctly that the spiders had killed them, not Richard or Jacqueline Riddick.  
  
Iman had been campaigning ever since the Johns brothers began their search for Riddick to have him pardoned. His argument being that Riddick had saved as many people as he could and showed himself to be rehabilitated. The word of his success reached him shortly after the Riddick's left Caliga.  
  
"You are truly a free man now, Benjamin." He told them when he came to Silva to deliver his news.  
  
While Riddick was grateful, he did not return to Caliga. "Silva is as good as it gets for me." He told Iman. "I have everything I need here. Food, water and Jack."  
  
Iman suggested and helped arrange for the Riddick's to buy the moon outright using modern galactic homesteading laws. And so the Riddick's became owners of their own moon.  
  
But the Riddick's stayed close to Iman and the Caliga Pilgrims. They visited Caliga about every 40 Silvia days. The colony did very well. They lived very simply. They farmed and fished the lake.   
  
The Riddick's went often into the mountains to hunt the spiders, which occasionally wandered off of the mountain range and scared the pilgrims badly. The spiders' eggs became a favorite food of the Riddick's.  
  
It was not until the pilgrims decided to offer themselves for "God's work" that the Riddick's life became interesting once again.  
  
  
  
Riddick landed the shuttle on the pad and shut it down. He frowned slightly out of the front viewer. "Bit busy today." He murmured.  
  
Jacqueline nodded. She made a sweeping mental count. "There are more people here than there were a month ago." She said.  
  
Riddick made ready to disembark. "Iman told us there might be." He said, standing. "But those uniforms."  
  
"They are IGPS uniforms." Jacqueline said, following.  
  
They donned their dark glasses and left their shuttle, entering the village, which seemed to have doubled in size in only 40 Silva days.  
  
They entered the marketplace, which was teeming with complete strangers. Riddick estimated he recognized about one in ten faces in the crowd. Most of the strangers were wearing dark green and black uniforms, which Riddick recognized from his time in the slam. His unease grew with each step.  
  
"Jack!" A voice called. Jacqueline looked around and took a moment to see little Rose Shin struggling her way through the crowd to them. She reached them and stood panting slightly with the exertion of her travels. "You've come on Market Day." She said.  
  
Jacqueline was still slightly stunned. "Rose." She said. "What is this?" She waved her hand at the crowd. "These are all IGPS personnel."  
  
Rose smiled broadly. "We are a penal colony now." she said brightly. Her smile faded slightly as she watched the reactions of her friends. "We voted to become one. To try and save some of those poor lost souls who can get so lost in the penal system." She began to look a little confused. Jacqueline and Riddick were looking at her, dumbstruck. "We can bring these people some salvation." She said, hopefully.  
  
"You have got to be fucking kidding." Riddick said, slowly.  
  
Rose looked very shocked. "Benjamin Riddick." She said, causing Riddick's eyebrows to rise at the maternal tone her voice took on. "I would think that you of all people would understand what we are doing here."  
  
Riddick opened his mouth, and then suddenly closed it. Jacqueline quickly took his arm and asked Rose. "Where is Iman, Rose?" She said. "I think we'd better talk to him."  
  
Rose shrugged. "He's in the main IPGS administration building." She said, a bit taken aback. "He's the prisons spiritual advisor."  
  
"I'll just fucking bet." Riddick murmured, drawing more daggers from Rose's eyes. "Where is it, Rose?" He asked, shortly.  
  
Rose shifted her basked full of vegetables from one arm to the other. "It's on the western hill." She said, stiffly.  
  
"We'll talk later, Rose." Jacqueline said as Riddick effectively dragged her away from her.  
  
The newly constructed IGPS Administration building was the most modern looking building Riddick had seen in some time. It stood looking arrogantly over the village, far enough away that the village could continue to grow quite a bit before it would spill onto the pristine lawn of the building.  
  
They entered the building noting as they did that not everyone was dressed in the dark green and black uniforms. Several people in the market had been wearing light gray. One of these people stopped the Riddick's at the door, asking if he could help them in any way.  
  
Before either of them could answer a voice from behind them said, "That's alright, George. They are authorized."  
  
Jacqueline turned and saw a smallish man in plain clothes standing before her. Riddick turned and saw him too. He said. "Dr. Romyl." He sounded partly surprised and partly pleased.  
  
Dr. Romyl smiled when he saw Riddick. "Richard Riddick." He said. "I thought you were dead. Then I found out you were only pardoned."  
  
Riddick gave him a small half grin. "Same thing, they say." He said, dryly as the two men shook hands. "This is Jack. My wife." He said, inclining his head towards Jacqueline.  
  
Dr. Romyl's eyes opened wide. "Wife?" He said. He smiled and shook Jacqueline's hand. "Now I have seen everything."  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "I have heard a lot about you, Doctor." She said.  
  
The doctor looked at her glasses. "Birds of a feather?" He said, the curiosity in his voice obvious. "Hard to find a woman who has had a surgical shine." He said. He looked like he wanted to remove her glasses. "Please, come into my office. I'd love to take a look." He looked at Riddick again, carefully. "At both of you." He said very slowly.  
  
Riddick bit his lip, but he and Jacqueline followed the doctor up two stories to the third floor of the building. This was obviously the buildings hospital wing. They turned at the top of the stairs and entered an office. Dr. Romyl immediately closed his shades and turned all but one of the lights off.  
  
"I have not seen Riddick here since." He began, leaning against his desk.  
  
Riddick slowly took his glasses off. "Since you did the job on me." He said, looking at the doctor with his silvery eyes.  
  
Jacqueline also took her glasses off. The light was low enough not to bother their eyes.  
  
"It was a big slam." Dr. Romyl said, grinning. "I am just now seeing the effects of my work." He went to Riddick, who allowed him to look at his eyes. The doctor looked at both of them, carefully. He eventually stood back. "Riddick did a hell of a job on you, young lady. I couldn't have done it better myself." He smiled softly. He took a deep breath. "Have you been noticing the side effects of the chemicals? They have been illegalized, you know. No longer to be found, used or manufactured."  
  
Riddick nodded. "I know." He said. "And yes. I have noticed the side effects. Both in myself and in Jack." He sighed. "Interesting side effect for people who have had all sorts of people waiting for the peace that my death will cause."   
  
Dr. Romyl smiled and nodded. "You look almost the same as you did when I did the shine job on you, Riddick. Maybe a year older. How long has it been? Twelve years?"  
  
"Fifteen." Riddick said, mildly. "Jacqueline isn't aging much either. I've known her for almost ten years now. I did the shine job about six years ago. She looks the same as she did then."  
  
"You look like you're eighteen." Dr. Romyl said, smiling. "Riddick still breaking laws?"  
  
"I was eighteen when he did the shine job." Jacqueline said. "And that was a little more than six years ago. I am more than halfway through my twenty-fourth year."  
  
The doctor nodded. "I see." He said. You'd better put your glasses back on. They did and the doctor turned on the room lights. "It's amazing." He said. He shook his head and sat down. "So tell me, what brings you here."  
  
"We're here to see Iman, actually." Riddick said. "We don't get here much. We have been gone a little while. There have been a lot of changes. Iman didn't mention any of them the last time we talked."  
  
Dr. Romyl laughed lightly. "In your holy man's attempt to gain you a pardon, he also campaigned against slams in general, and the one we were in in particular. The Ferra Mines have been closed, Riddick. And underground prisons have been illegalized. Again."  
  
Riddick said nothing, just nodded slowly.  
  
"Anyway, he convinced his people that the best way to make use of this new world of theirs was to open it up to rehabilitating the fallen." Dr. Romyl continued. He chuckled. "He has faith. Can't deny that." He shrugged. "Caliga is now a low to medium security prison planet. Those spiders in the equator mountain range keep the minimum-security prisoners nicely segregated. Food and shifts are changed every thirty hours. The minimum-security prisoners live on this hemisphere and are allowed to work and live among the original settlers. Upon release they will be given the opportunity to remain here." He shrugged. "I can't deny that it is a million miles away from Ferra."  
  
Riddick conceded. "Maybe." He said. "But I don't know about this. You know how IgPigs operate."  
  
Dr Romyl bit his lip but said nothing. He put a smile on his face. "Enough about that." He said. "I can show you to Iman's office now. I'm sure I've taken enough of your time. It is good to see you, Riddick. And to meet you, Jack."  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "You will have to come to see us someday. We don't often invite people to see us. You are an exception."  
  
"I would have visited before now." Dr. Romyl said. "I didn't know you lived here."  
  
"We don't." Riddick said. "We live on the forested moon."  
  
"Ah," Dr Romyl said. "Of course. It has to be dark as hell up there. Perfect for you. And you only come down occasionally to visit the colonists you brought with you."  
  
"Exactly." Riddick said.  
  
"I will come and visit with you. In the meantime, let's see if we can find the holy man."  
  
  
  
"We'll get over it." Riddick said twenty minutes in Iman's new office. Off of the office was a doorway leading through an underground tunnel and to the brand new Temple. The Riddick's declined the offer of a tour.  
  
"You won't let this keep you away from us, will you?" Iman asked, half frowning.  
  
"You'll have to forgive me, Father." Riddick said dryly. "I don't like slams. I don't care how pretty they are or how well intentioned the rehabilitation program is."  
  
Iman nodded. "I understand that." He said. "What we are doing here is divinely inspired. I could not say no to God."  
  
Jacqueline smiled. "We understand that, Iman." She said. "And you understand where we are coming from. We will have a very hard time feeling welcomed here. It is a prison now. We don't like prisons."  
  
They started to leave Iman's office. Riddick suddenly stopped and turned again to Iman. "Keep them off of our moon, Father. I understand now why you insisted we actually buy it. It's a private planet now." He looked again at Iman. "If you need us, you know where we are."  
  
And the Riddick's left the building and the planet without speaking another word to another living being on Caliga. 


	8. Chapter Eight: A Favor for a Friend

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Eight: A Favor for a Friend  
  
  
Over the next few Silvan months Riddick and Jacqueline had several visits from Dr. Romyl and a few from Iman or the Shins. Usually if anyone needed to talk to them they had communication devices in their home. They often monitored communication between Caliga and the monthly prison transports that came to deliver prisoners to and remove freed or paroled prisoners from the planet. For the most part, they lived peacefully and alone on their moon.   
  
They considered and decided that they would help to supply Caliga with the fruits, nuts and meats of their moon. The pilgrims loved the feathers of Silva's Kardis, a predator bird. They also supplied contraband cigarettes and alcohol to the prisoners, using Dr. Romyl as a go-between.  
  
Four Silva months after their last visit to Caliga Dr. Romyl visited them unexpectedly. They were not in their small home and so Dr Romyl set out on foot to look for them.  
  
Dr. Romyl had never gone into the dense forest of Silva without the Riddick's before and during this first solo trip he realized why. Silva was a dark planet during the best of times. The light was so very dim; he could barely make out the trees surrounding him. His time in the Ferra Mines taught him to move relatively slowly and carefully, but he quickly found himself disoriented. He noticed the usual sounds in the forest suddenly seemed hostile.  
  
He suddenly noticed a low, dark shadow before him. It seemed to be a crouching animal of some kind. Dr. Romyl froze and stared ahead of him. He took a step backward and the shadow mirrored him. He felt fear creeping over him.  
  
The shadow began to shake and suddenly leaped. Dr. Romyl screamed, fell backwards and closed his eyes waiting for the end. After a second he opened his eyes to see the shadow, which was some sort of large cat at his feet, some sort of bolt sticking out of its side.  
  
"You really should call before you show up, Doctor." Riddick's voice came from the darkness. Dr. Romyl could hear the amusement in Riddick's voice. "You should definitely not wander around the forest without some sort of protection."  
  
Dr. Romyl got to his feet and saw that Riddick was standing close, holding his crossbow. "You never told me about your little pets." He said, dusting himself off. "You should keep them indoors."  
  
It was too dark for Dr. Romyl to see the smile on Riddick's face. "The kardis isn't a very good pet." He said. "But harmless enough if you steer clear of them." Riddick stepped forward again and his face came into focus for Dr. Romyl. "If you don't they will hunt you down and kill you. You interrupted this one dining on our livestock."  
  
Dr. Romyl was looking at the kardis. "Wild cat." He said, looking at the black fur and the long and sharp teeth and claws. He moved forward to the larger animal the kardis had been crouching over. It was like a bull, large and solid with two horns on its head and one on its broad nose. "So this is the canero. I've been eating it for months and never knew what it looked like."  
  
Riddick knelt beside the dead kardis. He pulled from his pocket a hand transmitter. "A kardis got the canero." He said into the small device. "I think we can salvage both though."  
  
Dr. Romyl heard Jacqueline's voice come over the transmitter. "Need any help?" she asked.  
  
"Yes and no." Riddick said, standing and moving over to the dead canero. "Dr. Romyl has paid us a surprise visit. But I don't think he's going to be much help with this." He glanced up at Dr. Romyl.  
  
Jacqueline's voice was full of laughter. "I'll see if I can scare up some light on my way." she said.  
  
Jacqueline appeared ten minutes later with a lantern that gave off a weak light. She hugged Dr. Romyl then watched as Riddick finished skinning the kardis. With the help of Jacqueline and Dr. Romyl they skinned the canero and saved as much of the meat as possible.  
  
They loaded the shuttle with the fur and meat and went back to the Riddick home. There they found that they had another guest. Besides the doctor's shuttle was Iman's. He'd opted to wait for them to return, knowing a bit more about Silva than Dr. Romyl did.  
  
Riddick looked at Iman. "Two unexpected guests." He said. "This ought to be interesting."  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline stored the meat and furs in their freezer shed, just outside of their home. They took their time, as they knew that their friends were not here on a social call and neither Riddick was in a hurry to see what the official reason for their visit was.  
  
But eventually they finished their chore and returned to the house, inviting their guests to join them as they prepared their lunch.  
  
As Riddick prepared the meat and Jacqueline prepared the vegetables and fruit they communicated silently. Jacqueline finally looked at Iman and Dr. Romyl and asked. "So what brings you two here, unannounced." While she did not say the word 'uninvited' it was implied in her tone of voice.  
  
Iman smiled at her. "I have something to ask you." He said. "A favor."  
  
Riddick put chunks of canero meat into a large pot on the shelf in the fireplace. "You could have used a communicator to ask a favor." He said. Iman and Dr. Romyl both cleared their throats. Riddick glanced over at them as he seared the meat. "Unless it is one of those favors that is so intrusive that it has to be asked in person." He continued.  
  
Iman sighed. "We have a special case we'd like for you to look over." He said, carefully. "This prisoner is quite low security. Convicted of drug use. But it is her fifth offense in the last ten years."  
  
Riddick added water and the vegetables and fruit as Jacqueline said. "So? What does this have to do with us?"  
  
Dr. Romyl shrugged. "She's addicted. Has a chip on her shoulder. Serious trust and resentment issues from an incident with her sister. Her first arrest was a few months after her sister died."  
  
Jacqueline took over cooking as Riddick started setting their table. He set an empty plate before Iman. "Silva isn't a rehabilitation moon." He said. "Caliga should have all the needed resources to help this kid. What do you need us for?"  
  
"Well, the underlying issues stem from her resentment against her sister." Iman said. "She was troubled to begin with, being left for months and more at a time by her sister. She'd begged her sister to let her travel with her on her last outing. The sister refused and left her on Earth Six. The sister never returned."  
  
Jacqueline transferred the hot stew from its pot to a serving platter and moved it to the table. They served themselves and began eating.  
  
"Well, I can sort of relate." Jacqueline said. "My parents sent me from one place to another. Made me a little resentful." She took a bite and thought as she chewed and swallowed. "But I had you, Iman. And Benjamin."  
  
Iman smiled. "Yes. You had loving and caring people around you. This young lady had neither." He poured for himself from the pitcher. "And I am afraid that her sister was a bit," he paused and drank. "Selfish." he sighed.  
  
Riddick ate silently for a moment. "Interesting." He said, slowly. "And you think that we can give this young woman love and caring?" He said with his eyebrows raised and half a grin on his face. "Me and Jack, eh?"  
  
Dr. Romyl drank some water. "Well, you have such a way with people, Riddick." He said, dryly. "I personally believe this would be an ideal place for her to dry out. The prison still gets the drugs she's addicted to. Personally I am still not sure why Iman wanted her to come here."  
  
Riddick did not look at Dr. Romyl, but at Iman. "Oh, I think I do." He said, slowly.  
  
Jacqueline was nodding. "Selfish sister. Abandoned by that sister. Survivors guilt." she said, not smiling, but not angry either.  
  
Riddick gave Iman half a grin. "You want us to straighten out Caroline Fry's sister." He said. "How interesting." 


	9. Chapter Nine: Lillian Fry

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Nine: Lillian Fry  
  
  
The Riddick's took the next month to build a guesthouse near their own home. When Iman arrived with their guest they were ready.  
  
As they watched Iman slowly approach Riddick said softly. "She looks like Caroline. Longer hair, but the resemblance is there." He noted her dark glasses, not unlike their own and wondered.  
  
Iman stopped in front of them. "Richard and Jack Riddick." He said. "This is Lillian Fry."  
  
Lillian looked angry. "You're my new wardens, huh?" she snapped.  
  
Riddick raised his eyebrows. "Yea." He said, matching her voice tone.  
  
Iman cleared his throat. "I will leave you to get to know each other." He said. "I'll come back in a couple of weeks, as usual." He said to Riddick.  
  
Riddick nodded and they watched Iman get back in his shuttle and take off. Jacqueline and Riddick led Lillian to the guesthouse. Lillian looked around and shrugged. "Beats that tin shed in the slam." She said, putting her satchel down. She turned to the Riddick's, who were just outside the door. She looked at their glasses. "It's a little dark to be wearing those isn't it?" She said, motioning to the glasses.  
  
Jacqueline grinned. "We have sensitive eyes." She said. Normally we don't wear them, but since we have a new guest." She broke the sentence off.  
  
Lillian frowned. She reached for her own glasses, her voice filled with a challenge. "I suffer from the effects of apfelsine addiction." She said, whipping her glasses off and showing them her eyes, which were orange on orange. When neither of them reacted in any way, she pouted.  
  
"Sorry." Riddick said. "Jack and I have seen apfelsine poisoning a million times. Your not unique." He took his glasses off and Jacqueline did the same. Lillian couldn't contain her gasp.   
  
"But we are." Jacqueline said, watching her reaction.  
  
Lillian tried to shrug it off. "Whatever." she said, defiantly.  
  
Riddick put his glasses in his pocket. "We sleep during the brightest time of day." He said. "So for us, you're arriving first thing in our morning."  
  
Lillian noted how dark it was becoming. She wondered just how dark it got here.  
  
Jacqueline nodded to Lillian. "You unpack and join us in the main house. We'll have breakfast if you're interested." She and Riddick turned to go. "And stay out of the woods for now. There are things in there that will kill you if you don't know what your doing."  
  
Lillian joined them ten minutes later. She found that the house had shutters closed over the windows. She stopped almost immediately after entering the house, as it was so dark. "There's a lantern off to your right." She heard Jacqueline's voice. Lillian found and turned on the lantern. The light was weak, but gave her enough light to see a foot or so around her.  
  
She walked slowly towards Jacqueline's voice and saw the table before she bumped into it. There was food waiting for her. She sat and began eating. She was pleased that the food was good. She ate quickly and drank some water. She took her utensils and moved slowly, finding the sink and Riddick. He took and washed her dishes along with the others.  
  
Lillian didn't know exactly where she should go from there, so she stood close to Riddick. He glanced at her. "This isn't a slam." He said as he handed her a small towel and a wet dish. "But it isn't a free ride either." Lillian dried the dishes and put them where Riddick indicated. Then she followed him into the main room of the house. She found a comfortable chair and sat quietly. She couldn't see very far around her and so she sat not doing or saying anything. She heard some soft sounds around her, but couldn't figure out what they were.  
  
"Why am I here?" She eventually asked. "I could have rehabbed where I was."  
  
From the darkness came Jacqueline's voice. "Seems Iman has taken a special interest in you." She said. "And he thinks we can help straighten you out."  
  
"Because you knew that bitch sister of mine?" Lillian said, her voice tight.  
  
"Something like that." Riddick said.  
  
"So you're going to try and convince me what a saint my dear sister was." Lillian said.  
  
Riddick laughed lightly. "Not exactly." He said. "But something happened to your sister before she died." His voice became serious again.  
  
Lillian scoffed. "People don't change in just a few hours." She said, frowning. "Especially people like Caroline."  
  
"There were pretty dramatic circumstances back then." Jacqueline. "It changed all of us."  
  
"I don't believe it." Lillian said, defiantly. "Nothing would make Caroline care."  
  
"If you say so." Riddick said. "If you ever want to know about her, let us know. We'll tell you what happened to her." He paused. "You'll like the story. In the end she died quite painfully."  
  
Lillian felt her smile. "Well, at least there's a happy ending." She said. "So I rehab here instead of on that damn humid misty joint."  
  
"Slams don't rehab people." Riddick said. "It just groups a bunch of addicts together. And you've been on Caliga for a month, but your eyes are still as orange on orange as if you had your last hit of apfelsine last night."  
  
Lillian raised her eyebrows defiantly. "I did."  
  
  
  
Lillian helped Jacqueline and Riddick prepare their shipment of fruits, nuts and meats for shipment to Caliga. They taught her to watch for the kardis below and the pandeon above.  
  
"You should pluck those pandeon things." Lillian said, watching the birds. She and Riddick were high in one of the many nut trees that grew on the moon. The light was much brighter in the trees and Riddick had his dark glasses on.  
  
"They molt about every couple of months or so." He said, looking quickly at the bird and then away. He shook the wave of pain from his head quickly. "We collect the feathers, bundle them up and send them down."  
  
Lillian bit her lip. "So how long have you been married?"  
  
Riddick looked at her carefully. "We've been married about six and a half years now." He said. "We've known each other about eleven. Hard to count since the time changes from planet to planet."  
  
Lillian raised her eyebrows. "Six years." she said. "You must like us young."  
  
Riddick looked at her and shrugged. "Jack is in her mid twenties."  
  
Lillian grinned. "Your not." she said. "You're at least twenty years older than she is."  
  
Riddick cocked his head. "At least." He said.  
  
Lillian moved a little closer to Riddick through the branches. "I've heard about you." she said. "Your a legend in slams. Everyone says you went soft after meeting Jack."  
  
Riddick did not move. "I don't care what people think. I never have." He looked at Lillian carefully.  
  
"Love makes you soft." Lillian said, looking at Riddick. Scanning him. "And you are in love. Soft."  
She backed away slightly. "I can see it in everything you do."  
  
Riddick amazed Lillian by both frowning and grinning. "You believe that caring for someone is weakness." he said, sounding almost amazed. "Interesting. I've known a few people who made that mistake. Not the least of them being me."  
  
Lillian looked slightly confused. "Caring about another person weakens you. You worry about them and not yourself. It knocks you off your guard. Makes you vulnerable." she challenged.  
  
Riddick pursed his lips. "That depends. In my case I don't worry about Jacqueline. She's as good as I am. In some things, even better. We add to each other. I've never experienced anything like it." He frowned slightly. "I met someone once that I could admire. One of the two people to ever save my life."  
  
Lillian scoffed. "You're talking about my sister." she said. "Iman told me she saved your life. And got killed in the process. I don't believe it."  
  
Riddick shrugged. "Believe it or not. I don't care." he said. "The time is coming for us to tell you about your sister. What she was like when we knew her. What happened to make her change." He dropped a large bag of nuts to the ground. "You can decide what she would have been like if she'd made it off of that planet." He started down the tree.  
  
"She would have been the same bitch she had always been." Lillian said angrily, starting down after Riddick. 


	10. Chapter Ten: Caroline’s Transformation

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Ten: Caroline's Transformation  
  
  
Lillian felt half starved when she woke. She tried getting up and realized that she was very weak. She couldn't sit up. She looked around from her bed. On a small table beside her was a basket of fruit and shelled nuts. She sighed with relief as she reached for them.  
  
As she ate she tried to remember what had happened to her. She was collecting nuts with Riddick. They talked a little. She remembered that much. They climbed down, loaded the nuts into the C.A.T and went to find Jacqueline. They helped Jacqueline load the fruits into the C.A.T and were about to go to the storage shed to unload. Riddick was driving and Lillian and Jacqueline were in the back, talking. Lillian remembered feeling better than she had in a long time. Her eyes were even returning to their normal color.  
  
Lillian asked when it would be time for her to hear about her sister. Part of her wanted to know and part of her didn't. She had a hard time believing that Caroline had changed in any way in just a few hours. And if she had, Lillian had lost out again. Jacqueline said they wouldn't tell her anything until after the final stages of apfelsine withdrawal.  
  
Lillian reached for some more fruit and remembered that she and Jacqueline had talked about the final stages. Apfelsine withdrawal always looked like an easy thing. There weren't any symptoms until the final stages. And then all hell broke loose. Hours and hours of major seizures. Lillian had gone through it once before. It was the final stages of withdrawal that so many apfelsine junkies avoided by never getting off the drug.  
  
Lillian nodded to herself. She didn't remember much after that. She must have hit the final stages right there in the C.A.T.  
  
She sighed as she felt the food hitting her system. She was feeling better already. She slowly tried to sit up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and the room began to sway. She reached out to the table. Her hand brushed her lamp and she turned it on.   
  
She heard her door open and turned her head towards her bedroom door. She saw Jacqueline as she closed the door.  
  
"You're awake." Jacqueline said, with a smile. She came into the doorway of the bedroom and looked at Lillian.  
  
Lillian nodded. "Yea. I guess I am." She leaned forward, placing her head in her hands. "What happened? Final stages?"  
  
Jacqueline nodded. "Yup." she said. "About forty-two hours of final stages." Lillian looked suddenly at Jacqueline. "You seized more on than off for about twenty-four or twenty-five hours and then they started to come less often and less violently."  
  
Lillian sighed. "That's why I feel like I fell out of a tree." She said. "So it's." She had to calculate time for Silva. "A day. Day and a half?"  
  
Jacqueline raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Three days." She said. "Those seizures really knocked you out. But it's all over now. If you manage to stay off the apfelsine."  
  
Lillian cradled her head again. "I went through this only once before and that wasn't anywhere near as bad as this was." She said. "I'll have to remember this." She reached for a nut. "Riddick left these for me?" she asked.  
  
"I did." Jacqueline aid. "Benjamin wanted you to suffer. He told me not to leave you anything. But I thought you might not get out of bed without some food first."  
  
"He wanted me to suffer, huh?" Lillian said, frowning. "Nice guy."  
  
Jacqueline shrugged. "He has a lot of contempt for drug abusers. Thinks they are cowards not to just face things as they come."  
  
Lillian ate one of the large nuts. "And you?"  
  
"I can definitely see his point." Jacqueline said. "Someday you're going to have to face your past so it can stop getting in the way of your future."  
  
Lillian frowned. "What about you two. He was an escaped convict when you met. And you were a runaway."  
  
She was annoyed when Jacqueline chuckled. "First of all, who wouldn't want to escape from the Ferra Mines? Second. I wasn't a runaway or a stowaway. I was a burden on my parents. They were sending me off someplace where they wouldn't have to be bothered by me." She shrugged. I didn't imagine a lack of love from my family. There was no love there in the first place."  
  
Lillian bit her lip. "Your parents sound like my sister."  
  
Jacqueline pursed her lips. "Maybe." she said shortly. She turned to go. "If you're still hungry and can make it, Benjamin's got dinner ready."  
  
  
  
Lillian pushed away her second emptied plate of food with a sigh. She watched as Jacqueline took the plates away to the sink and began washing the dishes. She watched her, using it as an excuse to not speak. But three people did not make many dishes and soon Jacqueline was done cleaning everything. She sat down at the table again beside her husband.  
  
Lillian sighed. "Alright." She said. "Let's hear it. What a wonderful person my sister was."  
  
The Riddick's looked at each other for a long time, communicating Lillian knew. She had never been able to understand how they were communicating. They barely moved, it seemed. But she knew they were done when they returned their attention to her.  
  
"When we met Caroline, she was exactly as you described." Riddick began. "A bitch." He looked at Lillian thoughtfully. "She would have killed all of us if she hadn't been stopped."  
  
Lillian's eyebrows rose suddenly. Iman had told her very little about her sister, except that, "She saved you all I thought."  
  
Riddick nodded slowly. "That was later," he said. "She wanted to atone later I think." He glanced at Jacqueline, who nodded silently. "I got to the ship. I was going to move it closer to them. Caroline thought I was leaving without any of them. She read me wrong, which I found interesting." He gave half a grin. "We went back. Brought Iman and Jack to the ship. I got separated." He paused and bit his lip. "She saved my life. But was killed before we could get back to the ship together."  
  
Lillian frowned. She found she desperately wanted to believe that Riddick was lying to her. But she knew he wasn't. He was telling her the truth.  
  
"She took a chance for me and was killed for her trouble." Riddick said. "And I honestly believe that under normal circumstances she would not have done it."  
  
Lillian bit her lip. "Do you think," she began, but cut the question off before it got out of her mouth.  
  
Jacqueline looked at Lillian. "You and I are about the same age, Lillian." She said. "And Caroline was very protective of me. Very," she searched for the word. "At the time I would have said maternal, but knowing things the way I do now," Jacqueline shrugged. "Maybe she was thinking of you all the time she watched out for me. Her attitude was protective from the beginning, but when she found out I wasn't a boy. She almost clinged to me after that, it seems."  
  
Silence settled around the dark table, the only light coming from Lillian's lamp, which was set as low as possible. Lillian considered what she'd just been told for a very long time. Riddick and Jacqueline said nothing to interrupt her thoughts. They communicated in their silent language, remembering things among themselves.  
  
Lillian began to speak, but found it difficult to talk. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I knew about her being like a protector to you, Jack." She was able to say. "And I have been jealous of you because of it. You got to know a sister I only dreamed of. Maybe she really did change on that planet. Maybe she would have been a sister to me." She sighed. "I just don't know."  
  
Jacqueline shrugged. "I don't know either." She admitted. "But you needed to know that the sister of your dreams was in there. And was there at the end. And maybe it's the person we are when we die that matters and not the person we were before."  
  
Lillian nodded slowly, but did not speak. She stood, took her lantern and left the Riddick home without another word. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: The Jesuits

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Eleven: The Jesuits  
  
  
Lillian was able, over the next fifty days, to accept many things about herself and her sister. She was able to come to terms with Jacqueline, who she came to think of as a surrogate sister, loved properly by Caroline during Caroline's last few hours of life. And she and Jacqueline became very good friends.  
  
And so it was very difficult for Lillian to say what she needed to say to Jacqueline when the time came. She'd considered it over the last ten days, ever since Iman had visited them.  
  
He sat with them in their yard, watching the small firespiders crawling over the trees and grasses around the Riddick home. He had been quite quiet all the time he'd been there. And eventually the Riddick's had enough of his silence.   
  
"You may as well tell us, Holy Man." Riddick said, not looking at Iman. "You always say that confession is good for the soul."  
  
Iman watched the firespiders a moment longer. "The eclipse is over." He said, quietly. "Twelve long years later."  
  
Lillian watched as Riddick and Jacqueline stared at Iman. Neither of their faces showed a hint of any emotion they might be feeling.  
  
"What are you plotting, Holy Man." Riddick growled.  
  
"My companions deserve a proper burial." Iman said softly. "I have to go back."  
  
Jacqueline shook her head. "You'll never find their bodies, Iman. You know that, don't you?"  
  
Iman nodded slowly. "Perhaps." He said. "Perhaps not. I have a good twenty years to try, however." He looked at the Riddick's. "I have to try, don't you understand?"  
  
Both Riddick's exhaled sharply and nodded, but did not speak.  
  
"I will leave in ten days." He said. "Jonathan Shin will take my place until I come back. I will stop by here on my way."  
  
The conversation seemed to be over. It certainly moved on to other things. But as they stood beside Iman's shuttle as he prepared to leave Riddick spoke for he and his wife.  
  
"You know how to reach us if you need us." He said, simply.  
  
Iman smiled and nodded.  
  
Now Lillian watched as Iman's shuttle landed again. She stood beside Jacqueline. Iman approached them smiling.  
  
"I am off." He said.  
  
"That's one way of putting it." Riddick said, dryly.  
  
But Iman was in too good a humor to be put off. He laughed richly. "I will miss you, my friend."   
  
As Riddick shook hands with Iman he said again. "You know where to reach us if you need us."  
  
As Iman hugged Jacqueline, she said to him. "And you'd better be careful and keep in touch."  
  
Iman approached Lillian. "I have done as you asked." He said to her. "Are you sure you want to do this."  
  
Lillian nodded, noticing Jacqueline's look as she did. "Want to do what?" She asked.  
  
"I have to go too, Jack." Lillian said. "I have to go and." She struggled for words.  
  
Jacqueline stared at Lillian a moment before she started nodding. "I guess you do." She said quietly. "But be careful, Lillian. Both of you be careful."  
  
Iman handed Lillian her papers, paroling her into his care for the remainder of her sentence. Lillian took them with a nervous smile.  
  
Lillian and Iman smiled and promised they would be careful and keep in touch. And then they got into Iman's craft and left Silva.  
  
  
  
Jacqueline sank to the ground at the water's edge and struggled to catch her breath. She found she couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't breathe. She was close to panic, which was very unusual for her. She'd learned so much about control from Riddick that she would have thought herself incapable of the blind rage and panic she was feeling.  
  
She looked out over the lake. She had come to love the way she saw things now. It was like seeing things in a negative. She watched the dense forest on the other side of the lake. The wind moved the branches of the trees, causing them to dance. She concentrated on the serene scene and worked to calm herself.  
  
Slowly she brought herself under control. She could handle this. It was minor. Over time she'd encountered worse than this. She thought about the John's brothers. She'd dealt with worse.  
  
Or had she?  
  
She heard him walking towards her. He knew that this lake was one of her favorite places on the planet. Its shape was exactly the same as the shape of the lake on Jacqueline's school planet. The lake where they'd made love for the first time.  
  
He sat beside her and looked out over the lake, just as she was. She leaned into him immediately and he wrapped a comforting, protective arm around her.  
  
"You don't have to do shit." He said, calmly. Jacqueline was always comforted by Riddick's voice. Today she needed it more than ever.  
  
She snorted a laugh. "No fucking kidding." She said.  
  
They sat silently for a long time. Riddick let her sort through her thoughts. He hadn't even set out after her until he'd gotten his own emotions under control. He'd tightened his grip on them as he walked to the lake, knowing he'd find her there. He still felt a pang of regret as he sat feeling the only woman he would ever love shake slightly under his arm.  
  
Her shaking slowly subsided. She was regaining control. "Will you come with me?"  
  
Riddick didn't even flinch. "Try and stop me." He said.  
  
  
  
Before they left Silva four days later, they received a message from Iman and Lillian. They were back on the desert planet, which Iman was now calling Mawt 'Laylan. He said that the suns were indeed up and there were no signs of the creatures he called Zabani.  
  
Lillian was anxious, but holding up well. He suspected she had some plan for revenge against the Zabani, but she was not sharing it with Iman, at present.  
  
It was good to hear that things were progressing relatively smoothly for them. Jacqueline hoped that things would go at least as smoothly for her on Caliga.  
  
  
  
Jonathan Shin met them at the port, which had been enlarged to accommodate all the space travel on and off the planet. As they walked from the port to the I.G.P.S Building, Jonathan repeated what he'd said to them days before.  
  
"He came here with two others of his order." Jonathan began. "At first I could not imagine what Jesuit priests would want with Iman. They came all the way from Loyola, can you imagine that?" The wonder in his voice was obvious. "Father Michael and Father Francesco told me only to contact you and give you their Brother's name. They won't talk to anyone except for you or Iman."  
  
The Riddick's said nothing, which seemed to frustrate Jonathan immensely. He lapsed into silence and brought them the rest of the way to the I.G.P.S building without another word. He took them to the door of the Spiritual Advisor's office and left them there.  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline communicated with their silent language a moment before Riddick opened the door for his wife and followed her inside, closing the door behind them.  
  
Two priests stood in front of the desk facing them. They were undoubtedly Jesuits. They were in the traditional armor and robes the Jesuit order had worn for more than a hundred years now. Riddick noted their weapons; a pistol and a sword. It was no wonder that Jonathan was so uncomfortable around these particular Holy Men.  
  
The taller of the two priests looked carefully at the Riddick's. "We were not expecting two of you." He said. "And we like to see who we are talking to."  
  
"Where she goes, I go." Riddick said simply as he took off his glasses. Both priests gasped when they saw the four silvery eyes before them.   
  
The priests recovered themselves quickly. The priest who had spoken spoke again. "I am Father Michael. This is Father Francesco. We are here to speak with."  
  
Jacqueline said. "I know why you are here." She said. "And I know who you are here with."  
  
Father Francisco stepped forward. "Do you know about the Jesuits?" He asked.  
  
Jacqueline shook her head, but Riddick nodded. "The fighting Holy Men." he said. "I stayed with you briefly many years ago."  
  
Father Francisco nodded. "I remember you. I remember your eyes. And your strength. When I heard that the woman named Jack had a protector, I thought of you." He gave half a grin.  
  
Father Michael interrupted. "Saint Ignatius Loyola said that if God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint."  
  
Riddick snorted and rolled his eyes. "Are you telling me I created a saint?"  
  
Father Francisco shrugged. "God used you to change his life, Mister Riddick."  
  
"I never thought of it like that." Riddick said. "I was giving the son of a bitch what he deserved."  
  
Father Francisco nodded. "You are her guardian angel." He said. "You avenged the wrong."  
  
Jacqueline frowned. "That's not a problem for you?" She said.  
  
Father Francisco smiled. "Jesuits have always carried the sword of God, Jack. Sometimes God's ways are difficult to understand. We believe that God used Mister Riddick here to avenge a wrong done to you as well as bring a sinner to us."  
  
Father Michael walked closer to Jacqueline. "Saint Ignatius went on to say that if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering, for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than they wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity."  
  
Jacqueline frowned. Father Francisco looked at her. "He needs to atone for his sin. Ask your forgiveness." He glanced at Riddick. "Yes." He said thoughtfully. "Perhaps God has brought you here for a reason." He said to Riddick. "For he may no doubt want to speak to you as well." He nodded. "Will you see him? The two of you?"  
  
Riddick and Jacqueline conferred silently a moment before Jacqueline looked at the priests and nodded.  
  
Father Michael and Father Francisco led the Riddick's through the underground tunnel into the chapel where they could confront Calvin Andrews. 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Calvin Andrews

Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.  
  
NOTE: Jan 30, 2003 -- I'm afraid I have hit a snag. I am working on "V" fan fiction as well as this one and my mind isn't as clear as it should be. Being a writer I have wierd ass ways of overcoming writers block. I have made a puzzle of a picture of Riddick, Jack and Iman from the movie Pitch Black. May I have some more orderly ideas before it is over.  
  
I do believe that Riddick and Jacqueline will join Lillian and Iman back on the planet with 3 suns ..... and perhaps Calvin will also find some way to continue to make things up.  
  
Wish me luck. I am off to seek ideas .......  
  
Cassandra Houston  
  
Riddick's Death  
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston   
  
Chapter Twelve: Calvin Andrews  
  
  
Fathers Michael and Francisco remained at the rear of the chapel while Riddick and Jacqueline walked down the aisle together. Halfway down, Jacqueline took Riddick's hand in hers and held it loosely.  
  
They approached the figure near the pulpit. They were about eight feet from him when he spoke. "You came with your guardian." He said. "Good. I need to speak with him as well."  
  
He turned to face them. His skin had been pulled across his empty eye sockets. "I never had transplants." he said quietly. "I do not believe I deserve them after what I did." he paused a moment. "I never had anything transplanted." he said, alluding to the penis he was missing.  
  
Jacqueline said nothing. She simply looked at him, remembering and going through the emptions that seeing him again brought to her.  
  
"I did not know who you were until after I went to the Jesuits." he said. "And when they told me that Richard Riddick had attacked me in revenge for what I'd done to Jack I realized that God must want me for something. Because if you were sent as a punishment I would have been killed instead of simply maimed."  
  
Calvin sighed. "I do not expect forgiveness, Jack." he said. "I am still not sure that what I did can ever be forgiven. I took from you." he paused. "I killed a part of you. I have thought of what I could possibly do or say to make things up to you. It has taken me many years to finally track you down here. Because only now were you using any name I was familiar with. I believed that you may be going by the name of Riddick." he gave a sad half smile. "The revenge was too personal to have come from someone who did not love you deeply. He took my eyes so that I culd never look at you again. And he took my sex because I'd proven I could not use it properly." he began to nod. "In hindsight I cannot argue my punishment. It fit the crime perfectly. Certainly better than a secular judge would have doled out for me."  
  
Jacqueline found herself speechless. She had never expected such words from Calvin Andrews. She looked and listened to him and felt something strange coming over her. It wasn't pity. It wasn't anger. It wasn't fear. She could not name what she was feeling. She continued to hold Riddicks hand.  
  
"God has touched me through you two." Calvin said after another pause. "I never would have thought that I would be where I am today. The man I am today." he shrugged. "I can only tell you that I am so sorry for what I put you through, Jacqueline." He looked like he was going to say more, but instead lapsed into silence.  
  
Jacqueline looked at Calvin for a long time. She opened her mouth. "What you did to me can never be forgiven." she said, succintly. She paused, considering her next words. "But the person can be forgiven, even if the act cannot." she bit her lip. "And you aren't the Calvin Andrews who attacked me all those years ago. I think that between my guardian and your God that man is dead. I can only hope that the man standing here today is better than the old Calvin Andrews could ever dream of being."  
  
She squeezed Riddicks hand and they turned and left the chapel together.  
  



End file.
